A Whole New World
by Spawn of Nerdom
Summary: During a freak accident while attempting to get Thor back to Asgard, the Avengers find themselves in a whole new world.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own noe claim Avengers Assemble or Young Justice. I do own OC's, Alex/Animal and Axel/Creature

**Notes: **This is a remake of my other story (now taken down) The Other Team. I had better ideas. Also, I apologize for any typos, I write a lot of chapters from my phone and I don't always catch them. That, amd this is not A:EMH, it's Avengers Assemble, they just didn't have it in the list. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy!

**A Whole New World**

**Prologue**

**Third Person:**

Thor was in a bad mood.

It wasn't just because it was a Monday, which apparently most Midgardians hated, or because Hulk had taken the last of the cookies that Falcon't mother had made. No, it was much more worse than that.

Odin has finally gone into the Odin-Sleep, after putting it off for such a terribly long time. That left Asgard defenseless. Hr had tried multiple times to get to Asgard, but Heimdall was not responding, and he was absolutely the worst in making portals. One time, he was attempting to get to Midgard, and he ended up in Alfenhiem, land of the elves. Hawkeye still wouldn't let him live it down.

"Thor, my good man. I have a solution to your problem," Tony said, walking up to Thor, putting an arm around his neck, and poking his chest. Thor looked at him expectantly.

"What is this solution?" Thor asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, there are actually two solutions. They'll be here in about," he glanced at his watch, "Maybe twenty minutes. Traffic is kind of bad today."

Thor didn't understand, but nonetheless he waited.

* * *

><p>"Ding dong, kids are home!" Alex called from the elevator. Axel was taking the one next to it. Steve had been waiting in the kitchen.<p>

When Steve heard his adopted daughter, he smiled and walked out, taking in all of her unhuman features. She had red-orange fur, and dark blue dragon wings, with her dirty blonde hair in a ponytail, the bangs expertly covering her left eye. She wore a black tank top that had the white half of the Yin-Yang symbol, black cargo jeans with a white belt, combat boots, and a pair of white fingerless gloves. But none of that was as unnatural to the human eye like her left arm, which she was using to pick something out of her fangs. It was similar to the Winter Soldier's, but different all the same.

The elevator dinged, and Axel walked out.

He looked just like Alex, his twin, but with a few minor differences. For one, he had both his arms, and instead of blue, his slightly larger wings were a gun metal black. He wore a white shirt that had the black half of the Yin-Yang symbol, and it made his muscles pop out a little bit. He wore black cargo jeans like Alex, a black belt, black fingerless gloves, and combat boots. He had his dirty blonde hair all spiked up. He smiled and waved, while Alex just nodded.

As Steve was giving Axel a bro-father-son-hug, Alex came over and pulled on Axel's lion tail, making him yelp in pain and pull away. Alex hugged Steve, and Axel pouted slightly. She smirked and gave Steve one of her own rare hugs.

"How have you been doing? I see you didn't get the call for the Avengers to reassemble," Steve said.

"True," Alex said.

"But you can't really send something out," Axel cut in.

"-Without knowing where they are," they said in unison. Steve smiled.

"So what do you need help with? Stark was kinda vague when he told us to hurry here."

Steve sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, Thor's father, Odin, went into the Odin-Sleep, and Thor can't get back to Asgard because Heimdall isn't responding, so I'm assuming-"

"-Give us a week and a five-gallon thing of cookie dough ice cream," they said in unison, cutting Steve off. Steve gave them a quizzical look.

"Why the ice cream?"

"You don't expect us to build a portal on an empty stomach do you?"

Cap shook his head. He should have known. After all, he had known them for a few years, and they were his adopted kids. Not only that, but they had a super fast metabolism that could put Hulk's to shame. It was just really easy to forget that last part. He rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Now come on, Stark already started."

* * *

><p>One week later, and it was almost done. The twins and Stark all surrounded this machine that was roughly half the height of Widow. Alex was on her stomach, rewiring a few things, Axel was putting in a few extra screws, and Stark was eating Axel's ice cream, making a few 'corrections' here and there.<p>

"Stark," Alex said threateningly as she stood up, "Keep it up and you'll lose what little man hood you have left."

Tony paled and called his armor to him. Alex sighed.

"That stupid suit isn't gonna protect your boys, Stark. Well, not against us, anyway."

"I feel safer in this at the moment. So deal with it."

"How about you shut up and-"

She was cut off by a crashing sound. She whirled around.

The sight, needless to say, wasn't very welcoming.

Hulk was laying in the ground next to the machine that started to power up. Alex could see part of Axel's wing and one of his hands from under Hulk. Thor was laying on top of Hulk, his cape over his head and his hammer right next to Axel's hand.

"Shittles," Alex cursed. She ran to the machine, and started to try to get it under control, but before she could do anything useful, everyone in the building vanished in a flash of blinding white light.


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 1-Unexpected**

**Third Person:**

Falcon groaned as he sat up, only to find that he had no idea where he was. But he knew who he was with, and he was a little disappointed.

He grunted slightly as he tried to stand, looking down at Thor and Hulk. He scratched his head and looked around.

Directly behind him was this mountain, to his left was some woods, and in front of him and to his right were docks, boats lining almost every one.

So he had been transported to the country, maybe? If so, why? He didn't remember going on a mission. In fact, the last thing he remembered was giving Hawkeye the last of the cookies his mom had made, just a little while after those twin guys showed up. He didn't know them, but he knew of them. Not only that, but all of the Avengers, especially Thor and Cap, talked about them.

He sighed, and tried to get Thor or Hulk to wake up. He thought about the time they had been fighting Attuma, or that giant serpent that wanted to eat Thor, and Falcon had woken Hulk up by dousing him...But considering how angry it made the Hulk, he decided against it. Instead, he decided he should try and contact the others.

"Hello?" He said, putting a finger on his com. "Tony? Cap? Widow?"

All he got was static.

Falcon kicked the dirt in frustration. It made no sense. Why would he be out in the middle of nowhere for no reason? What happened to the part where they actually successfully got Thor back to Asgard? And where was everyone else? Falcon frowned.

"Well, hell."

* * *

><p><em>"Team, report to debriefing room," <em>Batman said over the intercom. Thankfully, all of the heroes, including Robin, Artemis, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Miss Martian, were already dressed in uniform, so all they had to do was run.

When they got there a few minutes later, Batman was waiting in his usual Gloom-and-Doom expectant face.

"About an hour ago, these three," a picture of an African American wearing a red and white suit, a green, tall, Hulking figure, and a blonde with a red cape and hammer showed up, "Appeared just outside the mountain, and they are still there. Judging from earlier footage, they brought friends with them. We need you to see if they are good or bad. If they are, bring them in so we can interrogate them. If not, contact the League and keep them away from the city."

The team nodded, and the door to the outside opened. On the screen, the African American whirled around in surprise, but none of the heroes noticed as they either ran or flew out.

Falcon narrowed his eyes as kids dressed in tights came running out of the mountain. They were all different.

The shortest was dressed like a street light, and had on a black mask. The archer was blonde, like Hawkeye, but wore green everything. The other girl, who was flying, actually was green, and she had red hair and freckles. There was also an African American who had no shoes, and had these weird gill things in his neck. The one in yellow had bright red hair and a red lightning bolt on his chest. There was one more kid, and he had black hair and blue eyes. He was well built like Axel, and wore a black T-Shirt with a red 'S' on it. Falcon went into a defensive stance.

"Who are you?" He asked, stepping in front of the unconscious Thor and Hulk. The street light put his hands up in a form of surrender.

"It's okay, no need to get overwhelmed. I myself try to stay whelmed-"

"-Here we go," the kid in yellow said.

"-I'm Robin. That's Kid Flash, Aqualad, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Superboy. We're the goof guys. Now who are you?

Falcon, dropping his stance but not his guard, sighed.

"My name is Falcon, and these are my friends, Hulk and Thor. We're from the Avengers. By the way, do you know-"

Hulk who was finally awake, let out a groan, the progressed into a roar when he saw Thor next to him. Thor's eyes shot open, and he gasped as he sat up, looking around him. He gave Falcon a confused look.

"I know not where we are. But I do know that this is not Asgard. Are we still on Midgard?"

Falcon rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"Uh, not exactly. We're not on _our _Earth. We're on _a _Earth."

"And we can all get this sorted out inside, where Batman will be waiting," Robin said, gesturing to the Cave.

"Call us crazy, but we just met you. How do we know we can trust you?" Falcon asked. The teens all shrugged.

"Well, either way he wants to meet you. Besides, we've already established that we're good guys."

"Do you have food?" Hulk asked. Miss Martian nodded enthusiastically, hoping that if one of them went, they would all go. Especially if it was obviously the strongest one there was.

"I made cookies a few hours ago. Would you like some?"

Hulk smiled and nodded, before following Miss Martian into the cave. Thor smirked, and Falcon sighed, shaking his head in his hand.

"Fine. But after that, we have to go look for the others. Who knows where they could be."

"I'm sure the League has that covered, so there's really to worry," Kid Flash said as he took a bite out of his newly opened protein bar. Falcon chuckled nervously.

"Yeah...Right. Who is the League?" They stepped inside, but the Avengers didn't really have time to take in the scenery. Before they could go explore (and Hulk eating his cookies), two adults came in. One was a male dressed in a black cape and cowl, with a black bat thing on the chest. The other was...They didn't even know. He or she was completely red, and he wore a blue cape, and had yellow arrows on him. Falcon waved. The two men seemed to ignore that as they walked away to the interrogation room, with only a,

"Follow us," from Mr. Gloom and Doom. Falcon gulped slightly and shared a look with Thor, who looked just as uncomfortable. Hulk just huffed, and after receiving a prodding glare from Falcon, he too finally followed.

When they got there, there were already three chairs on one side of the table, and one on the other. To their right was the one-way mirror. Falcon took the seat in the middle, while Thor and Hulk stood, their arms crossed. Falcon internally rolled his eyes.

"Who are you guys?" He asked, exasperated. Mr. Gloom and Doom didn't hesitate.

"Batman, from the Justice League. My friend out there is Red Tornado. Now, can you explain to us how you got here?"

"I may be able to answer that one," Thor said, stepping forward. He sighed. "You see, I am Thor, of Asgard, and my father, Odin, has fallen into the Odin-Sleep, therefore leaving Asgard completely defenseless. Heimdall, Keeper of the Rainbow Bridge, isn't responding to my calls. So, I asked Iron Man, another of our friends, to help. He called in two older friends, whom I haven't laid upon since the break up of the Avengers. While they were building this Midgardian science to get me back to my homeland, Hulk," Thor threw a glare at Hulk, "Decided to challenge me in a battle."

"What?!" Falcon said, turning around to look at the two. Oh, he was mad now. They could have endangered everyone's lives. In fact, some still haven't been found.

"You didn't know?" Batman asked. Falcon shook his head.

"No, I was in a different room. They were in Tony's workshop."

"I assume Tony is Iron Man?" Batman asked. Falcon nodded.

"Yeah. And Steve is Captain America. I'm Sam. I'm kind of afraid to tell you Black Widow's real name because she's a spy, and Hawkeye is Clint. The only ones with powers are Thor, Hulk," He gestured to them as he said their names, "And the twins, Animal and Creature. Thier real names are Alex and Axel."

Hulk huffed.

"Alex is gonna kill you for that," he said. Falcon paled slightly.

"We, I haven't known her as long as you. You could have said something."

"Actually, considering we are on a different Midgard, I'm sure she would not care as much," Thor stated, patting his hammer slightly.

Batman looked at the three. The way they acted around each other was natural, and they were obviously good friends. The way they spoke of their other friends so easily made it a bit more believable, but before Batman could question them further, his com beeped.

_"Bats, there have been three identical energy fluctuations like the one by the Cave," _Superman stated.

"On my way up," he turned to the three off-world heroes. "You three will stay here. The team will give you a tour of it. Until we can get you back home, this is where you'll be staying," he told them, and with that, he walked out.

"Well," Falcon said, "He seems nice."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2-Unwanted**

**Third Person:**

Cap sat up quickly, much to his body's displeasure. He couldn't remember the last time he was this sore. It was before he got the Serum in his veins, that's for sure. He looked at his surroundings.

He was laying in a bed, that was lined up with a bunch of other beds. His shield was gone, and that seriously ticked him off. He felt naked without it. He groaned and shook his head slightly.

Across from him was Iron Man, and his heart was flickering. He quickly jumped out of his bed and ran to his side. His mask was still on, so he wasn't getting the proper air flow he needed. He quickly looked around, finding a stray screw driver under the bed. He used it to try and pry the mask off, but it just bent so far it actually broke. He groaned in frustration.

Superman didn't know what to expect when he walked into the Watchtower's Infirmary. They had appeared there around the same time as that green guy and viking.

But he was never expecting a frustrated, patriotic man trying to get the armored man's mask off. He came over cautiously. Before he was even half way to him, the man turned around and got into a fighting stance.

"Who are you?" He asked, eyes narrowing. Superman put his hands up in a form of surrender and smiled warmly.

"It's okay. My name is Superman. I'm from the Justice League. You two appeared during Canary's Monitor Duty shift. I'm assuming you're Captain America, right?"

"How did you know my name?" Cap asked, fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to calm his nerves.

"We found a few of your other friends. They're at the Cave."

Cap's eyes widened ever so slightly as he dropped his fighting stance, but he didn't dare drop his guard. He didn't know if this Superman was good or bad, and if he had powers or not. Not only that, but he said he already had a few of his friends. He pursed his lips, choosing his next questions carefully,

"Tony needs his mask off so he can breath. Can you get it off?"

Superman nodded and walked over, easily ripping the mask off of his face, revealing a pale, black haired man with a goatte.

"Do you want the rest of the armor off?" Superman asked, reaching for the chest plate. Cap put his hands on Superman's and shook his head.

"See that?" He asked, pointing to the flickering blue light. Superman nodded, and Cap continued.

"That's Tony's heart. If that light goes out, then he's dead. The suit is probably one of the only things keeping him alive at the moment."

Superman's eyes widened as he quickly took his hand away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. Is there anything we can do to help him?"

Cap glanced at Superman with a small smile. No villain could ever fake that much sincerity in his voice.

"Not unless you have knowledge about an Arc Reactor, like the twins, of my friend, Falcon. Though I think Falcon a little."

"Is Falcon the one dressed in red and white?" The indestructible warrior asked. Cap nodded.

"Do you know where I can find him? And my shield?"

Superman nodded.

"Yeah, he's one of the ones we found. Along with your green friend and the...Viking?"

Cap chuckled slightly.

"His name is Thor. He's Asgardian."

Superman gave the Captain a confused look, but didn't comment on it as he brought his hand com link and told Batman they needed Falcon and Cap's shield. Cap smiled at Superman.

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>When Falcon came in, being escorted by Batman, he had been on his last nerve. Thor and Hulk couldn't stop fighting over whose fault it was that they were in this mess, and Hulk stole three entire batches of Megan's cookies. After that, being a little overwhelmed, Falcon had sat down, only for Robin to tell him that he needed to get whelmed. He wasn't even sure if that was an actual word or not.<p>

But then Batman had come in and told him to follow. Then he had been led to these Zeta-things, and now he was in a completely different place. Then Batman had gone into a room and brought out Cap's shield, and now they were in the infirmary, where Cap and some other guy were waiting.

"Cap!" Falcon said, running from Batman and going to Cap. Steve smiled at him, but then his face turned serious. Falcon looked at him with worry, and Cap looked at Tony. Falcon followed his gaze and went to Tony's side, while Batman handed Cap his shield. He put it on his back.

Falcon stared at Tony with a focused look. Tony had showed him how, but with the tech that he had in his workshop. It was obvious that they didn't have Arc Reactor technology. Heck, they didn't even know what it was, let alone have it. Falcon sighed.

"Well, I don't know how to do a great amount of help without the stuff in Tony's lab. But I can make a charger. 't know how much it will help though."

Cap nodded and pursed his lips.

"Alex, Axel, Widow, and Hawkeye are still missing though."

"Not for long. We have two teams of League members going after the energy signatures. Hopefully we'll get to them before someone else does."

"Falcon and I can go with you," Cap said, stepping forward. "That way they know that their are some friendly people. Especially with the twins."

"Trust issues?"

"Something like that. It took them a while to trust us fully because they're overly paranoid. They...Didn't exactly have a normal child hood."

"Mind elaborating?" Superman asked.

"I'm not at liberty to say. It's for them to to tell, not me."

"Well, that aside, I still need supplies for the charger so Tony doesn't die."

"What will you need?"

"Um," Falcon thought for a moment, "A few car batteries, some tubes, some tools to get the chest plate off safely. It might not be enough to get it fully charged, but it might be enough to wake him up. If that happens, then he can fix his own heart."

Batman nodded and started walking out with Superman. Cap followed. It had been silently decided that Falcon would stay, while Cap went with Batman, Superman, and maybe a couple other Leaguers to go get the rest of the missing Avengers. No one commented, and no one protested as the heroes walked out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3-Missing Pieces**

**Third Person:**

The way Hawkeye woke up was not desirable by any means. And the person he ended up with was also not as desirable. Mostly because if they had to hot wire a car, she wouldn't let him drive, and she drives like a New York cabbie.

"What the hell was that for, Widow?" Hawkeye asked, irritated. She had poured a giant bucket of water on his face, and now not only was he wet, but now he was cold, too.

"The Avengers link is down, and we're not in the tower any more. I'm not even sure we're on our Earth anymore," she said smoothly.

"And what makes you say that?" He asked as he stood up.

"Does our world have a Daily Planet?"

The two looked up at the giant golden globe that was spinning extremely slowly. Hawkeye huffed.

"No. It has a Daily Bugle. Where are we? It looks like New York, it smells like New York...Heck, they even got Times Square!"

"I don't know," Widow snapped. She was irritated. Hawkeye kept asking the obvious questions that he knew she wasn't able to answer, and quite frankly, she was beyond the point of pissed.

Honestly, she blamed those twins. She didn't trust him, and she didn't see how the others could trust them. They had been made by a skrull, didn't come back when Cap had supposedly died, didn't help when the Cabal went 'World Domination' on them, and they were the ones who built the machine that got them there, claiming to be 'helping' Thor get back to Asgard. All the signs pointed to them, practically screaming 'GUILTY!' in giant, neon letters. And yet Steve still adopted them (before the Avengers broke up, that is). It boggled her mind.

But she didn't have time to think any more of it as a buff man with black hair in blue tights, a guy dressed in black and gray, and Cap showed up. Cap walked up to them with a smile, but his eyes showed extreme worry, and a tiny bit of confusion as he glanced at Hawkeye.

"Why are you wet?"

"Widow decided to wake me up," Hawkeye replied bitterly. "Who are your new friends?" He nodded towards the two strangers.

"This is Superman and Batman, heroes from this world."

"How do you know you can trust them?" Widow whispered so low only Cap and the ones with super hearing could hear her.

"They've been nothing but helpful, Widow. Without them the others and I could have died. We're lucky. Now come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To the Cave where the rest of your friends and the Team is. The only four that won't be there with you are Falcon, Iron Man, and the twins that the Captain mentioned. We have yet to find them," Batman said, a small scowl on his face.

"No surprise there," Widow muttered.

"As long as there's food I'm okay with it," Hawkeye said.

"Well," Cap said, "Let's go then."

* * *

><p>After dropping off the trio and checking up on Falcon and seeing how he was doing, Batman went straight to the last energy source. It was in the middle of a woodsy area in Long Island, New York. He stopped walking.<p>

According to his toys, he was in the exact location. This had been the last energy source, so both twins had to be there...So where were they? Batman put his gadgets away and started looking around.

In the trees and on the ground were scratch marks, and patches of red-orange fur, along with some small pieces of clothing. There were also several footsteps. But there were to many. If it were just the twins, the earth beneath him wouldn't be hard from the pounding of several different feet.

Then something caught his eye.

He bent down by a tree a few feet away and picked up two necklaces, each was one half of the Yin-Yang. Batman narrowed his eyes and pur them in his utility belt, along with a few patches of fur. The twins that Captain America had spoke so fondly of had been here, but were taken. By the way he spoke of them, they would have flown, or gone by tree rather than land, and they would have been more careful. His scowl deepened.

Batman only had to walk a little longer, following the hard, pressed tracks, until he came to something else.

Tire tracks.

He sighed. The Avengers, he heard Cap mention, were not going to be happy. Although the red head, Widow, might be a little satisfied. He noticed how she didn't seem to like then very much, as if it were their fault they were scattered in a different world. The way she always seemed to disregard them would cause many issues within the foreign team. And to add to the disaster, he would probably have to bear the outrage from them about him not being able to find them when he said he would. He sighed again, and pressed a button on his wrist, calling his Bat Plane to him.

Wasn't this fun.

* * *

><p>"Did you find them?" Superman asked as Batman returned to the Watchtower. After he told Falcon and Iron Man, of he was awake, he would go to the Cave and inform them that someone else beat them to it. Judging from Batman's silence, Superman took it as a no. But he also didn't pry, or ask questions as the two made their way to the infirmary. Once there, Falcon looked up.<p>

Batman and Superman had told Falcon that everyone but the twins had been found. Falcon had been relieved, but he was also kind of worried. The twins (although not knowing how old they are) were young. He felt that they should make their own team of super powered teens, like the Justice League had with their proteges. He stuck the special tube to the armor-less Tony's heart and fired up the machine, just as Batman and Superman walked in. He waved.

"Hey. Did you find them?" He asked. Batman shook his head, and the slight smile Falcon had disappeared completely.

"Do you know where they might be?"

Again, the Dark Knight shook his head, and instead, brought out the necklaces. Falcon looked them over, a frown ruining his features by the second.

"I assume you're going to go tell the-"

He was cut off by a gasp, and whirled around to see Tony clutching at the tube in his heart.

"What the hell?" He asked, eyes wide. His everything hurt like Hulk sat on him, and he could tell that his heart was seriously straining itself, just getting Tony awake. He coughed, and Falcon and two other dudes rushed to his side.

"Last time you said you might actually quit the team I didn't think you would pick one where a guy doesn't know his underwear goes under his pants," the Billionair Playboy said. Falcon rolled his eyes, and helped Tony sit up. He scowled at the tube and car battery, but at the same time he was thankful.

"Where are we?"

"I'm Superman, and this is Batman. You're in the Watchtower's infirmary," Superman said.

"Where's my team?"

"Almost everyone has been accounted for," Batman said.

"Almost?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. Again, Batman held up the necklaces, and Tony paled.

"Cap isn't gonna like this. Where are the found members?"

"In one of our bases we call the Cave," Superman was the one to answer.

"Fancy. Mind taking us there? I actually want to get some food before Hulk, Thor, and Hawkeye eat all of it," Tony winced as he tried standing up. He staggered, and was instantly being supported by Falcon. Tony gave him a grateful nod.

"Right this way," Batman said. He turned on his heel and left, leaving the other three to follow.

* * *

><p>When they got there, they were instantly crushed in a hug by Thor.<p>

"Thank Odin you are unharmed!" He said. He had a giant smile on his face, but it fell when he saw who was missing.

"Tell me, where are the twins?" He asked. Cap came over, worry in his eyes. Batman stayed as stoic as ever.

"That's our problem..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4-Hell**

**Third Person:**

Axel/Creature groaned as he woke up. His entire body way soar, and he somehow got scratches and bruises all throughout his fur. He even had a few clumps missing. But that's not what bothered him the most.

He was restrained to the wall-even his wings. They bit into his wrists and ankles, making it nearly impossible to move, even with his enhanced strength. He was in a small call that had a clear door, so he could easily see his sister, Alex/Animal, hanging just like him, but she was limp. He could tell she was sort of conscious, but the guys in white kept drugging her so the could take her fake arm off. Axel grit his teeth in anger as he started pulling on his restraints. He growled, which was actually kind of intimidating. Because he and Animal had such screwed up voice boxes, their growls and roars seemed triple the threat. Not only that, but they were able to mimic anyone's voice perfectly. It came in handy during pranks.

Once they managed to get Alex's left arm off, they gave it to a scientist, who quickly left. The troops came into his cell.

"What are you?" One of them demanded. Axel stayed silent, eyes narrowed. The growl that came deep within his throat grew from a piano to a metsoforte (quiet to normal speaking voice. It's volume). A few of them back up, but others held up their guns.

"Why can't we just kill it?" One demanded. Axel barred his teeth, which were none to pleasing. They scared them even more.

"Luthor told us not to. They still have the tests to go through," another one answered. Axel stopped growling, but he kept his fangs showing.

"What tests?" He snarled. His voice was kind of deep, and it boomed throughout the room, making a few people panic slightly. He was the more warm and cuddly of the twins, but he could be just as threatening as Hulk on steroids. A few of them gasped.

"It can talk!"

"No way!"

"It's still ugly."

"Of course he can talk."

The others turned at the last comment to face a man whose style reminded Axel a little of Tony. He was bald, and wore a black suit with nice dress shoes. He had a green tie, and green eyes, that were filled with playfully sinister actions. Axel didn't know him, but he immediately loathed him. He just had that aura of hidden evil around him. Axel started growling again.

"Who are you?" He demanded. The Mystery Man chuckled.

"That is not of importance at the moment. What matters is you and your sister," he said. He put his hands behind his back and started pacing the room slowly. Back and forth, back and forth.

"You see, I am a man of _curiosity. _For instance, I am curious to see how you tick, how doable you are, your resistance against magical forces, and so on. I am curious to see how far I will have to go to break you. And considering you have what I assume to be a will of iron, I'm looking forward to it."

The man stopped pacing and walked forward to Axel. Since Axel was up against the wall, he was a good head taller than him. Hell, even if he wasn't he would still be taller. He was six foot four after all. Axel snarled, and the Mystery Man smirked, making Axel's blood boil.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Alex opened her eyes groggily, her head spinning. She didn't know what drug she was given, but it actually worked. Not most did since the twins had a very fast metabolism. They could eat their weight in chocolate and gain only a few pounds (not that they like chocolate anyway...). To make it worse, her arm was missing. She groaned.<p>

_"Axel?" _she said through the mental link that they shared.

_"Right behind you. Literally. The backs of our portable wall/table thingies are back to back," _he replied. Alex noted how he sounded pissed, and she didn't blame him. She struggled against her bonds, but only succeeded in injuring herself. They were tight. Too tight, and they bit into her wrist. The only reason she stopped was because she could feel the blood trickling off of her wrist and onto the floor. She huffed, and blew her bangs out of her face, only for them to fall into the exact same place.

A few minutes later, some scientists came in with a tray on wheels. There were various substances laid across the top and on the shelves. The head scientist had a wicked grin on his face as he filled a syringe with a dark purple liquid and pressed it into Alex's arm. She winced, and as the substance spread throughout her veins, the pain increased greatly. She let out a painful groan.

This continued with both the twins. First it was purple, then blue, then green, then orange, and lastly, there was a deep red that could have been mistaken as black if it was in the correct lighting. That one hurt the most. The green was where they started crying out, but the red was far worse than that. It made you feel like your insides were a volcano.

They both screamed even more as they got a double dose of red.

* * *

><p>Shortly after the substances, they were wheeled into another room. It was pure white, and nothing in it except for them. Only this time, they were put side by side.<p>

"Oh, goody. Some new toys, Teekl." Since their backs were to the door, they weren't able to see who was behind them until he came into their line of sight.

He also wore a suit, and he had shiny black hair that was scooped so that it looked like Wolverine's. He looked young, but creepy and menacing. The cat he was holding meowed, and the boy let him go.

"Oh, I'm so happy Savage let me play with you. But I can't break you just yet. He still wants to see all of your insides on a platter," the boy said excitedly. He cackled to himself, and the cat meowed again. The boy huffed, a n d smiled again. His hands started glowing with red energy, and he blasted them with it.

The sound of them screaming was music to Klarion's ears. He just couldn't get enough of it. That's why he put a little more power in the blasts. Being a Lord of Chaos, he could do whatever he pleased. Unless a Lord of Order, like Dr. Fate showed up. He always ruined the fun.

Klarion stopped for a second. The twins' heads were down, and they were panting extremely hard. Their clothes were now torn to the point where they were just in rags, and some of their fur was singed. They glared menacingly at him, and Klarion laughed, clapping his hands together. Just like before, his hands glowed with pure evil, but instead of blasts, he made whips.

Because of the sound proof doors, they were the only ones to hear the agonizing screams as their blood stained the pure white floor.

* * *

><p>When the twins went back to the lab, Klarion was more than pleased at his work. His only regret was that he didn't make them scream more, even if he had been doing it for days. Teekl meowed, and Klarion sighed.<p>

"I know. Maybe another time," he said. The feline purred in excitement.

The twins had been with them a week, and they had been put through all sorts of things that Klarion found amusing. What made it better was the fact that they hadn't had sleep or food, but they were given water once a day.

Klarion clapped yet again as the furballs were electrocuted with 1400 volts of electricity, and still managed to stay awake.

* * *

><p>"You're not real, " Alex said firmly as she shut her eyes and turned her head away.<p>

The hallucination didn't listen. Even when she begged Steve to stop taunting her about how much of a monster, a _failure _she was, and that hurt a lot more than she thought it would.

The same was happening to Axel, but it wasn't Steve who was saying it. It was Hulk and Thor.

Axel didn't know why they were doing this to him. He was confused. And because of it, he wanted to cry. He could tell Alex did too, but they weren't able to, no matter how much they wanted to. For them, it was torture.

* * *

><p>Luthor smiled to himself as he watched the footage next to Vandal Savage, who has a smug smirk on his face.<p>

"If we find their limits, we'll be able to tell how well they'll do against the Justice League," Savage said. Luthor nodded.

"They could be the key to the Light's success."

"What's they're next test?"

Luthor didn't hesitate as his smile grew ever so slightly.

"Dissection."

* * *

><p>It had nearly been three weeks since the Avengers landed on the Justice League's world, and they still weren't able to find the twins.<p>

Cap was worrying his head off. They were his kids. He was the dad. Therefore, he was the one that was supposed to protect him. That's how it was supposed to be. But since he couldn't do his job, where they in pain? If so, how much? Would they relapse to their old, cold selves where they flinched at everyone's touch? He clutched their necklaces a little tighter, eyes closed.

_Please be okay..._


	6. Chapter 6

-Notes: Two updates in one day because I feel generous, I hate being left on cliffies myself, and Clockwork's Apprentice. Enjoy!

~**SoN**~

**Chapter 5-Research**

**Third Person:**

Batman sat at the giant super computer in his personal cave. He had searched every nook and cranny, under every rock and around every corner for those damned twins, and he hadn't found anything. He knew that the Captain was getting more worried by the second. It made sense. He had told Batman that he had adopted them a little while after he had met them. He was one of the first people they trusted, let alone trusted with everything. Hell, he even went to the fact that Tony had picked out their real names. Before that, it was just 23 and 24. Lab rats to an evil alien. He let out a slightly frustrated sigh and continued typing, not acknowledging Alfred's presence behind him.

"Coffee, Master Bruce?" He asked. Batman took his cowl off and leaned back in his chair as Alfred came up and handed him the cup. Bruce took a sip and nodded a thanks to Alfred.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, but do you even know what they look like?"

"Cap drew me some very detailed pictures, and Tony brought one up from his armor," Bruce replied, showing him the drawing and the picture. Alfred's eyes widened at their appearance. He didn't think anyone here had fur, so it was definitely a new sight to him. And what was with the dragon wings on both of them? He took a drawing of their faces smiling and looked it over a little more closely. Ha glanced at Bruce, who had gone back to typing, and then back at the computer.

"CADMUS, Sir? I thought Robin and the others shut down that hidden part of CADMUS when they found Superboy."

"I've been monitoring the closely. That wasn't the only one. They're scattered all over the states. They could have gotten to them first, honestly."

Thankfully, some personnel from CADMUS was none to bright, so they were somewhat easy to hack into. It wasn't long until he found the videos that had been dubbed Project Beasts. He narrowed his eyes and opened the file.

He almost regretted it instantly.

He had been through pain and suffering, and had almost lost his life on several, countless accounts, but that was nothing compared to the things he was watching. And that's all he could do. He could only watch, because these videos had been taken all throughout the month, so he couldn't help them. Not even when he saw their figures being strapped down and cut open. Alfred dropped his tray, but Bruce barely noticed as he tried to drown their screams out. They sat there, watching as that had their organs played with, spitting up a little blood, had these muzzles that covered their noses down to their chin. They weren't given any type of sedative, and since the camera was angled above them so that you could see the insides, you could also see their faces. Their eyes showed terror, and only that. They had lost hope. Their spirits were broken.

They didn't count on anyone but themselves now. And that's always one of the hardest tings to fix in any man or woman. Sometimes it couldn't even be fixed.

Bruce growled slightly as he brought up the security footage of the twins in their current state by hacking. They were in their separate cells across from each other, restrained against the wall. They were beaten and bloody, and still trying uselessly to get out. Their wrists were bleeding, and judging from the other videos and lack of care, they were probably infected, too. Bruce started typing again, hacking into the main system. A second later the twins were released from the wall, but not the cuffs, and there were still cuffs on their wings, so they weren't able to fly. They both fell to the ground rather ungracefully and looked around for the source. When they didn't find one as the glass doors slid open, they made a run for it.

Bruce watched as they ran. They were fast despite all the injuries, and they took down any soldier that stood in their way. Hr smirked, but it was soon wiped away as they made it through the doors, an entire horde of soldiers after them. But they were to late. The twins were already gone.

Without saying anything, he headed to the Zeta-Tube.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6-So Close**

**Third Person:**

Alex and Axel ran as if heir lives were on the line. Because they were. They had some how escaped, maybe a glitch in the system, they weren't sure, but not without some extreme injuries. Their wounds were reopening, and he cuffs that were on their wrists and wings weren't helping either. Because of that, they couldn't fly to get away. But on the bright side, Alex managed to get her arm back, and because the cuffs were only on the wrists (Making them bleed even more. The wounds were infected now), she was able to carry it. On the downside, it was a bit harder to breathe, because sometime during the experiments, they had muzzles put on them. They couldn't speak, and they could only breathe through their nose, which was painful as they made their way towards a bridge, trying to get away from CADMUS as fast as possible. They didn't know how long they had been running, but it was long enough to were they found themselves near a bridge.

But their worries were increasing, and it wasn't for their own safety.

On the bridge was a big, grey monster that reminded the twins of Hulk, making them a little homesick. They pushed those feeling to the very back of their heads as they made it to were the beast was. Alex put her arm down and got into a defensive stance. But before they could attack the monster terrorizing the citizens, something-someone, big and green, landed on the gray monster, and threw Alex and Axel so far back, they fell off the bridge.

The instant they hit the water, it was to much, and they blacked out.

Falcon, who was flying behind Hulk, swooped down into the water and brought the twins back up just a few seconds after they had gone in. Thankfully, the wings were water proof, so the only trouble he had was were the twins as he brought them back up to the street and laid them down. The Avengers and Leaguers looked them over.

They had blood all over their now drenched fur, and their hair was stained with blood. They were also extremely thin. So thin that you could count most of their ribs without even trying, and the fact that they now had rags for clothes didn't help. They were panting extremely hard, as if there just wasn't enough air in the world. Cap full on scowled as Thor ripped off the muzzles. Axel coughed.

Hulk was angrier than usual. This green guy tried to hurt his already injured friends. He growled as he threw several punches, not holding back at all. He was to angry. In fact, the only reason he stopped beating up Blockbuster was because Tony said it was enough. Even then he almost didn't stop, but he was eager to see the twins. He walked over where a few Avengers and Leaguers were huddled, but it soon fell away when he saw what condition the twins were in. His fists tightened in anger as he huffed. Miss Martian flew up and put a soothing hand on Hulk's shoulder, but he barely noticed. He was to angry. He wanted to smash the people who did this. He wanted to smash them a million times over until they were dead, bring them back, and smash them twice as hard. No, three times.

Cap was no happy camper either. He was pissed. He was beyond the point of pissed. To think that someone would do something like this to a couple of kids! Then again, in his eyes, almost everyone was a kid. But other times, it was easy to forget he was a man out of time. He always kind of felt lonely because of it, but the twins helped him embrace that side. Not only that, but they enjoyed his talk about the war, and his old friends and missions. They were two of the three that did. The third being Falcon's mom. He picked up Axel while Thor, who had been fighting Blockbuster with Hulk, picked up Alex.

The Team and Justice League noticed how they seemed extremely upset and angry. Heck, they were too. Just not as much since they didn't know the twins personally. They noticed how they seemed silent, as if silently planning a plot to kill the people who did this, or at the very least, get revenge.

_"Well at least we know what they look like," _Kid Flash said through the mental link, picking up Alex's arm.

_"Just shut up, KF. That's not helping," _Robin said.

_"I don't know them. I only know their friends. So why do I feel like I couldn't help them when I should have, even though I know I couldn't do anything about it?" _Miss Martian asked sadly. The others internally shrugged, and followed Superboy, Cap, Thor, and the unconscious twins onto Sphere, who was in her more elaborate bike form. Cap and Thor set the twins down gently next to each other, Alex next to the edge and Axel next to her. Cap took a seat next to Axel, making sure to give him enough room in case he woke up or moved. Superboy took the wheel, while Wulf sat directly behind him. Next to Cap sat Hawkeye, and in front of them was Aqualad, Robin, Widow, Kid Flash, and Artemis. Once everyone was seated, Superboy revved Sphere and they took to the air. They were flanked closely by both the Avengers and Justice League, except for Hulk, who was down on the ground, jumping to keep up.

Cap was in deep thought, not even noticing the worried looks everyone gave him. He himself didn't even notice his soaked sleeve as Superboy turned and Axel started leaning against him. Steve didn't push him off. He didn't want to, even if he did smell awful. A full month being caked in their own blood, starvation, torture. Those things bothered him. He would expect something like this from Skull or something, but this happening in another world...Somehow it bothered him even more. It was probably because he knew nothing about his enemy. He couldn't read the files like he did at home. he was met with surprise after surprise, not counting the heart break or guilt every time he looked over at the twins.

Cap's clenched fists tightened.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7-Temporary Salvation**

**Third Person:**

Hulk, for obvious reasons, had made it to the Cave before the others, so he was fully prepared to take the twins straight to the infirmary by himself, while the others got everything ready. He didn't like how quiet everything was despite all of the other kids that made the Team. He was always used to the twins' smart ass comments, and them being able to smash really well. And when they watched movies together, they would always sit on his shoulders. It was never the same without them anymore.

Before the Sphere even landed, Hulk was over there taking the twins out. Once he had one safely in each arm, he carried them to the infirmary, where Stark was. Steve said he couldn't go out in the suit until he got his heart properly fixed. Knowing Tony, it wouldn't take very long. In fact, the second he walked in, Tony was there, asking a million miles a minute. Hulk just walked past him and into the infirmary, where he set the twins down carefully. Behind him, Tony let out a small gasp, and Hulk pushed him away so Batman and Captain America could get through to patch them up. He left with Hulk and Thor, still asking questions.

No once could answer though.

* * *

><p>First, they did Alex.<p>

She was just banged up as Axel, so they could have started with either one. first, batman worked on getting the muzzle off. With that, plus the water, it was probably getting really hard to breathe. After he found that it was rigged with electricity (Probably broke thanks to the water), he grabbed a Batarang and pried it off carefully so he wouldn't hurt her. She coughed a few times, revealing her fangs, and her breathing became slightly more labored. Then Batman took the Batarang and made the move to cut off her shirt. He glanced at Cap, and he nodded. It was for her own good after all.

After the finished cutting off the rags that covered her chest, Batman grabbed the disinfectant and started cleaning her wounds, while Cap took the Batarang and went over to Axel, doing the same to him. Once they were done with the chest and stomachs, they went to the wrists. Lucky for Batman, Alex only had one, but he didn't make any comment or brag that he had the slightly easier job. It wasn't about that. It was about saving two lives. He took the Batarang and pried off the cuff, and handed it back to Steve. Before he went any further, though, he hooked the two up to heart machines, and Cap's frowned deeper as he listened to the slow heartbeats of both mutants. Batman tilted his head to the side, and Cap scrubbed Axel's wrists with the disinfectant a little harder.

"If you're wondering why I'm a little more distraught, it's because that's on the brink-of-death-slow for them, he said," pointing at the monitors. "They're heart beats are faster than a normal person's, and that's slower than your average person's. That's very bad for them."

Batman gave him a small nod and grabbed the breathing masks, putting one over each of them, and continued to work on the girl, while Axel was wrapped up in bandages.

* * *

><p>"I don't get it," Wally said as he looked the arm over. "Shouldn't it be all beat up like them? I mean, come on! It doesn't have a single scratch!"<p>

"That's because it's made of a special, rare metal from our world called Vibranium. They made Vibrosteel, if you will," Stark said.

"Vibrosteel?"

"Vibranium and steel. Same stuff Cap's shield is made of. It absorbs vibrations, making it virtually indestructible. Not even hulk can scratch it."

"That's...Smashing."

Artemis hit Wally in the back of the head for his badly placed pun, took Alex's arm, and handed it to Tony, who started using it to scratch his back. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"It's like you two are meant for each other," She said.

Thor watched from the kitchen, a small smile on his face, despite everything. He was happy that they were able to jest and smile and laugh at each other despite the fact that two of their most beloved comrades were on what could very well be their death beds. But the twins weren't the only worries on his mind. He was also worrying about Asgard, his father, and the people of Asgard. His magic had been blocked, and Heimdall hadn't been responding, which meant dark forces were at work. It had been roughly a month in this Midgard, and Asgard had been nagging in the back of his mind the entire time, but he did not want to burden the others with his problems. After all, they couldn't have found the twins sooner. Fate just had ways of dealing with things, he believed, but other times, fate also needed a little push. But that push wasn't going to come from hm just yet. The twins needed time to heal. Judging from their condition, it would be a while. Hulk came over and stood next to him, arms crossed. He looked over at Thor.

"You gonna eat that?" he asked, eying the chicken Megan had made. Thor shook his head.

"I do not wish to feast. I have lost the appetite."

Hulk nodded, and picked it up, but before he could take a bite, Megan flew over and slapped it out of his hands. Hulk huffed.

"I asked first," He stated. Megan rolled her eyes and grabbed some wet wipes. She then started scrubbing down Hulk's arms, as they were covered in blood from the twins. Thor chuckled, and Hulk was about to smash him, but Megan wasn't finished. So instead, he just growled. Once Megan was done, Hulk ate the food with one hand and punched Thor with the other. Thor flew back into the wall and got a better grip on Mjonier, fixing his helmet in the process. Before their daily fight could go on any longer, Cap and Bats walked back into the room. Tony stood up.

"How are they?" he asked.

"Stabilized," Cap sighed. "They might not be waking up for a few days though."

"A few days meaning-"

"-A literal few days for them. Not in normal terms."

"Well...I'm just gonna go see how they're doing. You know, with the cuffs and everything..."

Cap nodded, and moved out of the way so he could have easier access.

When Tony got there, his voice leaped in his throat, and he momentarily forgot to breath.

They were being fed through the IVs in their arms, and almost every inch of them was covered in bandages. Even some parts of their feet were covered. They both had breathing masks on, and their hearts seemed to beat in sync as their breaths gradually became more calm and less labored, but just barely. Tony sighed and rubbed his face before he grabbed some tools he had left behind and turned Axel on his side, and began taking the cuffs off so he could take care of their wings.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8-Downtime**

**Alex:**

As my eyes snapped open, my heart beat started to race. I was in a room with blinding white lights and a breathing mask on. I sat up, and instantly regretted it, because the amount of physical pain I was in was excruciating. I tore off the mask and looked around.

On the bed to my left was Axel, who was groaning, trying to find the motivation to sit up. We were both covered neck to toe in bandages. Steve was asleep on a chair that was in between our beds. He looked worse for wear, and a little pale. I frowned. Was it because of us? We didn't mean to worry him. I felt really guilty now, so to make up for it, is stood up (None to gracefully, I might add), grabbed a blanket, and put it around him. Then I limped over to Axel's bed and somehow persuaded him to sit up, but quietly, as to not wake Steve up. He looked at me, then Steve, and then rolled over and went to sleep. I wasn't mad, or irritated by his lack of curiosity or motivation. Heck, I didn't even want to be standing. But I wanted to know where we were, and who we were with. I walked out.

I followed the scent of Cap, Hulk, Tony, and a dude who smelled like cheap perfume and guano, down the hall until it opened up into a living room, where everyone just stared at me as if i had either killed five people or come back from the dead. I waved slightly, but gave no verbal greeting to my friends or the strangers. What I did do, though, was take my arm away from the red haired teen dressed in a yellow suit, because I need it, and he was using it as a back scratcher. The blonde in green snorted, while the black haired traffic light full on laughed at his friend. Across the room, I saw Thor and Hulk smirk at my bluntness as I attached my arm to my shoulder socket. I picked up a screw driver, unhooked one of the plates near my shoulder, and tightened a screw inside, connecting the nerves. I hissed in pain and screwed the plate back in. Tony came over and clapped a hand on my shoulder, giving me one of his signature playboy smiles, and I glared daggers at him. Him doing something as little as that hurt like hell. Before I could say anything, he gave me a white shopping bag and told me where the bathroom was. He then told me very quietly that I was shirtless and had rags on for shorts. Not like I really cared though. My chest was to bandaged up for me to care that I was shirtless in front of a bunch of dudes. I nodded and left.

When I got to the restroom, it took me about five minutes longer than usual to change because of all the bending and moving. When I was done, I looked at my reflection.

"Nice to know I still look sexy as hell after being dissected," I mumbled. But that wasn't the case. To them, anyway. My fur was dirty, and was getting dulled from the lack of care. It felt flat and lifeless and thin. My face was sunken in slightly from lack of nutrients, and I honestly expected it to be more so, because the only things we had in there was a little water and a piece of bread. My tank top that was so-dark-blue-it-could-be-black was a bit baggy on me, even though it was an entire two sizes smaller than what I usually got, and I had to have a belt tightened up almost all the way despite the fact that they were black skinny jeans. I looked in the bag to see the other item. I took out a shoe box and opened it, revealing a pair of combat boots and socks.

Needless to say, I didn't have enough motivation to bend down and put the on, so I put them back in the box, threw the empty bag away, and limped back to the living room, slowly sitting on the couch next to a dude with gills and Tony. I sighed and leaned back.

"Hello. I am Kaldur."

I peaked my eye open at the dude with gills, who was looking at me almost worriedly.

"Name's Alex. Or Animal. Either one works."

Kaldur nodded, and looked to the rest of his team, that was now gathering around the couch for introductions. I put on a fake, painful smile and sat up.

"That is Robin, Miss Martian, Superboy, Artemis, and Kid Flash."

"Oh, shittles," I said, dropping my smile. I turned to Stark. "You didn't say we were doing the whole secret identity thing," I accused. he gave me a confused look.

"We are?"

"Shittles?" Kid Flash asked. I shrugged.

"I have weird friends in high places back home. So...Kaldur? Is that an alias or your real name?"

"A shorter version of my real name."

I nodded slightly and turned to the others. I looked at Robin.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Why are you dressed like a traffic light? I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm mistaken for the red light by people that are high and driving whenever I'm out on patrol...But do purposely dress like that?"

As Robin pouted and Kid Flash laughed, a man-the source of the smell of guano-walked in front of me. He held out his hand and opened it, revealing some pills. I chuckled softly, but almost instantly stopped because it hurt to much.

"What are those?"

"Pain pills," he replied.

"Sorry," I said, pushing his hand away, "I don't take pills from strangers that smell like bat shit and cheap perfume."

All of the other teens made a collective gasp, so I assumed that Mr. Doom and Gloom was Top Dog around here. He seemed unphased though, and Stark snorted with laughter.

"Geesh, your sense of humor gets screwed up when you're in pain."

"Take them," Guano said.

"Don't need 'em."

"You were stuck in CADMUS for a whole month. I highly doubt that-"

"-I said I don't need them," I said. Sometimes it surprises me that my voice can change so drastically. Like, one minute I'll be super happy or something, and in 0.1 seconds flat I can be all Gloom-and-Doom like Guano over here.

"Alex..." Tony said. there was a bit o an edge in his voice, and I could tell he was nervous. I looked at him, knowing that if I didn't take them, he would probably not let me ever live the Halloween incident down. I sighed.

"Fine..."

I took the pills from his hand and downed them all at once with no water. That's right. Fear me. Once I finished gulping them down, I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Happy now?"

He walked away without answering me.

Not like i cared though. It was rhetorical. And I also didn't see why they were making me do this. I mean, yeah, my everything hurt like a bitch, but pain meds never worked because my metabolism was to damned fast and would burn them out in a matter of minutes, so I usually didn't bother.

"Uh..." Miss Martian asked, "So uh...Do you want some food?"

**Axel:**

I yawned and groaned as I sat up and took the breathing mask off, and pulled the IV out of my arm. I would stretch, considering I felt super stiff, but I didn't want to reopen any wounds that had finally closed up. I sighed and stood up, wobbled for a few seconds as my head spun, and walked over to Steve, who was still asleep. I pushed his shoulder slightly and he was instantly awake. He quickly stood up and gave me a hug, letting the blanket Alex had put around him fall to the ground.

Since I was to secluded and socially awkward, I didn't know what to do, and we just stood there like that for a full minute before he pulled away.

I was really glad he didn't disappear. All the hallucinations that we experienced always disappeared if you touched them. I was half afraid that this Steve would disappear too. I sighed in relief, and he gave a quizzical, worried look, but didn't as he led me down the hall and into the living room. On the way he explained pretty much everything he knew, and told me which people were which.

When we got there, I saw Alex on the couch, eating a bowl of soup. She looked like she was ready to stab anyone in the throat with a fork, and honestly, I couldn't blame her. Tony was explaining what injuries we had, and how Steve and Guano Guy took care of them.

"...You guys even flat lined a couple of times the first night, it scared the hell out of us."

"Well, glad to know you actually care through all of that Starkasm, Tony," I said, throwing him a smirk. He looked over and gave me a huge, lopsided grin.

"The AR in my chest says 'Proof that Tony Stark has a heart,'" he stated.

"I know. Pepper showed us before she gave it to you."

"There's soup for you on the counter," Alex said.

"You cooked?"

Alex snorted, making her wince in pain. I smirked, and she sort of glared but it wasn't full of hate.

"Don't make me laugh," She said, "Megan made it. It's really good."

"Thanks, Megan," I said, and headed to the kitchen, got my bowl of soup, and sat down next to Alex. Across the room I saw who I assumed to be Megan, green skin and all just like Steve's description, blush slightly as she moved closer to the other girl, who must have been Artemis, who was looking at me like I was eye candy, despite the bandages. I squirmed.

"So...What's up?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9-Therapy**

**Third Person:**

The Team didn't know what to think of the twins. The Avengers themselves were pretty cool. Hulk was a hot head, Cap could be a little to strict on his team sometimes, but he was pretty chill. Widow was overly paranoid, Thor was...Different, but in a good way, and Steve and Clint were grade-A smart asses.

But the biggest mystery was the twins.

They seemed comfortable around only one Avenger, and that was Steve. They seemed to tense up around anyone else if they so much as got close to touching them.

Alex always had this deadpanned I-am-104%-done-with-your-shit-look on her face, and hardly ever talked to any of them. Axel was the same, but he actually tried making a conversation every once in a while, and had the motivation to make more than one facial expression.

But at the same time, they were able to learn a few things. For instance, they learned that the twins were vegetarians (Wally had been thoroughly surprised), and they had a mental link that they often talked through. Currently, however, they were talking with Captain America. Alex seemed somewhat ticked as Axel looked the same, just slightly less so.

"I'm not doing therapy Steve," Alex said. Her voice sounded slightly more rough and raspy than usual, making Steve worry a little bit more. Alex sighed.

"I'm gonna go try and sleep," she said, and without saying anything else, she stood up and walked out. Axel, however, stayed. Cap looked at him and sighed.

"Will you be the cooperative one?"

"Honestly, I'm with Alex on this one, but I also feel like I should. So...Huh...Yeah. I guess I will."

With that, Axel stood up and walked to the room where he knew Black Canary would be waiting for him.

"Ready?" She asked as he walked in. He shrugged, giving no verbal answer. The younger of the twins sat down on the floor in front of the chair, bringing his wings close to his body. He brought his knees loosely to his chest, his ankles crossed, and waited for Canary to talk. Canary looked at him expectantly.

"You do know you can sit in the chair...Right?" She asked. Axel nodded, and shifted so he could play with the end of his tail as he talked.

"It's to soft..." he said awkwardly. Canary nodded, getting a serious look on her face.

"What happened...It must have been traumatic. And knowing you nearly didn't make it doesn't help either. Do you wanna start from the beginning?"

Axel took a deep sigh, staring at anything but Canary. He didn't want to do this. It hadn't even been that long ago, but thanks to his and Alex's photographic memory, it was like it was yesterday. They remembered everything so vividly. They were literally having nightmares during the day, while they were wide awake, because they were to afraid to go to sleep. Axel gulped.

"We...We woke restrained to the walls by those weird cuffs," he stated, rubbing his bandaged wrists slightly. "Just a little after that...These scientists or something came over and injected us with so many different, painful things. It felt like everything was combusting on the inside. Then there were the magic resistance tests...Where this really creepy kid and his stupid cat would sit there and hurt us for pure joy."

Canary recognized the description. It was Klarion, a Lord of Chaos, which meant the Light had a hand in their torture. But Canary knew, she just _felt, _that there was something else he wasn't telling her. She watched as he nervously looked at his tail, rubbing his chest slowly. He grimaced, and then looked at Canary.

His bright, vivid green eyes startled her.

They were the kind of eyes that could pierce the soul with just a look. But they also looked so helpless, and innocent, like a little kids. But she knew that was far from innocent and helpless. They had ran for miles at a good speed with opening wounds, always on the brink of unconsciousness. She waited patiently as he took a few calming breaths before continuing.

"There was also hallucinations, and dissections, over and over, each time finding the same amount of stuff, and each time there was no knock out gas or sedatives. We were awake for the entire month. Not a wink of sleep. We're...We're to afraid to sleep as it is. This only made it worse..."

"You had nightmares before CADMUS?" Canary questioned. Axel nodded, his frown growing, marring the features of his face.

"We didn't exactly have a normal childhood..." he stated vaguely. "But compared to the stuff in CADMUS...It's the same amount of torture. I should be used to it by now," he looked from Black Canary back to the floor, where he picked up a stray paper clip and started bending it in a bunch of different angles. Canary just sat there, watching Axel play with the paper clip for a few minutes. She was trying to find a place where she could help, but with stuff like that, it was practically impossible. Axel was so broken in so many different places, and it became hard to tell what was him and what was the lab experiment. She placed a comforting hand on his knee, and Axel flinched away, pulling his knees in closer.

"Please don't touch me," he said. His voice was cautious, nervous even, as if Canary would disappear at the touch, like all of the painful hallucinations. Nor only that, but having hands thoroughly dig around his insides just made him want to puke. To him, it was to soon to be touched. Canary took her hand back.

One thing was for sure, she had decided. This wasn't gonna be easy. Then again, when was it ever? Alex sighed.

"I...I think I'm just gonna go try and sleep now..."

* * *

><p><em>Alex screamed as the scalpel cut deep into her skin. The scientists surrounding her pulled back her flaps of skin and pinned them down. She wanted to shrink back in pain, but because she was held down by the restraints, she couldn't. She was helpless, and weak at this moment. <em>

_And that scared her._

_Even with Ringleader, the skrull, she only ever felt helpless a handful of times, like when she was on an examination table much like this getting her tear glands taken out, or when she was forced to watch her students be tortured to death-literally. She started to tremble as her screams sliced through the bad smelling air. One of them placed a muzzle on her mouth, blocking any sound from them no matter how much she made. _

_Then one of them grabbed her heart, and squeezed it a couple of times. She gasped, eyes wide with pain, and tried to scream again, but it didn't work. _

_Was she gonna die? If so, she was okay with that. She just wanted it to-_

Alex shot up in a panting mess, grabbing her chest. She took in the surroundings of the room she was given, finding that she had rolled over to the floor. Despite that she knew she was out of their grasp, however, she felt terrified. She trembled as she stood up and walked out to the kitchen.

When she got there, she was glad to see that nobody was there, because at the moment, she just wanted to be alone. She rubbed her face, resting her elbows on the counter, and sighed.

"Coffee?"

She dropped her hands just below her eye to see Steve, with his mask down, offering her a cup as he read the newspaper. It was around two in the morning, though. Why would he be drinking coffee with a newspaper in his hand like he did every day around nine in the morning, when everyone else woke up...

Oh. He had been awake for her.

She nodded and took the cup, turning around to lean on the counter. He raised an eyebrow.

"Nice underwear," he commented. She looked down and shrugged. They were a pair of boxers (she hated girl underwear, they weren't comfortable) that had the original yellow Batman symbol scattered across them.

"Axel has a pair of Superman boxers," she stated, taking a drink of coffee. It was even flavored how she liked it. Then it hit her.

When did Steve learn how to use a coffee maker?

"I'm not gonna ask how you know that," he said. Alex smirked, but it disappeared as he continued. "But I will ask what your nightmare was about."

She groaned slightly as she scratched the back of her neck with her metal hand.

"Do I have to?"

"If you want to try to get better."

"You don't need that weight on you."

"And you didn't deserve that weight on you. Alex, you need to open up and talk," Steve's eyes were pleading, yet firm. Alex's looked dead, and defeated. But they also had bitterness in them as she thought about all of the things that had happened, deciding which ones were mild enough to tell Steve.

"It was a bunch of stupid things," Alex stated. Steve gave her a look of utter disbelief as she continued. "We had all these different things injected in us so they could see which ones hurt the most, uh...Resistance against magic with this kid and his stupid cat. We didn't sleep at all, and we rarely ate. I'd have to say that's about it."

"Alex, quit lying. I know there's more. None of that stuff would have given you a nightmare so bad you actually screamed. Now tell me, or you're never gonna get better."

Alex's grip on the cup tightened, going completely noticed by Steve. He put a hand on the spot in between her wings and started scratching it slightly. She sighed, and mumbled something that was incoherent to Steve. He frowned.

"Alex..."

"We were hallucinating, and we got dissected, over and over and-"

She was cut off by the sound of her cup breaking in her hand. She frowned and dug a shard of glass out of her hand while Steve grabbed the bandages, sat her down, and wrapped her hand up. Once he was done with that, he pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing her slightly. She hugged him back, he claws accidentally digging into his suit, but he didn't care. When he met them, they had told him that their skin was 93% scar tissue, and they were able to see for themselves. But now?

Now it was probably 100% scar tissue, both on the skin and the mind.

He held her a little closer, and he felt her trembling with fear.

"You don't always have to play it like everything is fine when it really isn't," he said quietly. "Nothing bad is gonna happen if you open up a little.

But he knew that she wasn't gonna do it very often. Because of her not being able to cry, she held everything in. She never knew how to express what was really going on inside, and that made her angry and bitter, and she only knew how to take it out by fighting.

"How I feel...This inside me," Alex said, her voice trembling slightly, "I wish I couldn't feel anymore...I wish I couldn't feel a damned thing."

Steve's eyes widened slightly. Was she implying that she wanted to die? As if the world was so bad that she couldn't see any good? Well, that was a lie. She had friends, family, a home, food, people who cared about her. Now that he thought about it, it was probably why she hadn't done it.

"Sometimes it's easier to pretend that everything is fine when it's really killing you," Steve said, pulling Alex away so he could look her in the eye. "It is not the size of the man, but the size of his heart that matters. Okay?"

Alex nodded.

"Yeah...Okay..."

Steve gave her a smile, and she sort of returned it.

"Now, how about we find a board game and wait for Axel to get up from his nightmare."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes: **Please review!

**~SoN~**

**Chapter 10-Swing of Things**

**Third Person:**

"...And the he shot milk out of his nose," Alex laughed. "Oh my Odin, it was the funniest thing ever."

Around them, the Team laughed, as did a few Avengers. The twins gave a sly look towards Hawkeye, who just huffed and turned away.

"So, what about you guys?" Axel asked, rearranging a few things on the circuit board he was working on. Robin shot them a cheeky grin. Wally saw this, and tried to cover Robin's mouth, but Robin dodged, letting Kid Flash fall on his face.

"Flash can vibrate his molecules through a wall. Last time he tried it, he got a bloody nose," he said, instantly laughing at the memory. The twins chuckled as Wally cried in protest. Kaldur smiled and gave Axel a quizzical look.

"What are you working on?" He asked.

"The circuit board for the machine we're building to get us to Asgard."

"Asgard?" Megan asked.

"Thor's home," Alex explained. "That's why we were even building a portal to begin with."

"Why can't he get home on his own?" Kid Flash asked.

"Because the magic is being blocked during the Odin-Sleep, which is bad news, so we have to get him home to see if anything bad is going down. Loki might be up to his usual tricks again."

"Magic? It's all fake," Wally stated, waving them off. The Avengers, including the twins, surprisingly, burst out laughing at that statement.

"What...What do you think...Makes Thor's lightning?" The twins asked in unison. "It was forged by the dwarves themselves."

Off to the side, Cap was smiling as he stood next to Superman. He was glad the twins were finally opening up a bit. He hadn't seen them laugh that hard since Tony had the shit scared out of him by Hawkeye, who had fallen asleep on the fridge with both eyes open. How that happened was still a mystery.

"Glad to see they're doing better," Superman commented. Cap nodded in agreement, but he didn't get to reply as Batman's voice came on the intercom, stopping all of the laughter.

_"Team, report to debriefing room."_

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, the Team, twins, and Cap were standing in front of Batman, waiting fpr him to speak.<p>

"You two are staying," he said to the twins. They scoffed and waved him off.

"We're well enough to fight. Besides, we need to get back in the swing of things. We're physically perfectly fine," they said. Knowing that their minds weren't gonna change, Batman just narrowed his eyes and continued.

"Klarion is wrecking Metropolis, near the Daily Planet. Your job is to stop him."

A picture of Klarion had popped up while he was talking, making Alex and Axel quietly seethe, but they didn't show it. In fact, the only thing that changed was their eyes. They had gone from regular pupils to slit eyes. Cap noticed this, and took a step to the side, away from them. It wasn't safe to be around them if they were that pissed. Alex forced a smile.

"Consider it done, Guano," they said, and ran to the Bio-Ship with the rest of the Team before he could unleash his fury about the nickname they gave him. Once on, Miss Martian made the chairs pop up. The twins sat on either side of Aqualad, Axel also being next to Superboy, who gave him a quizzical look.

"You're gonna fight in that?" He asked. Axel looked down at his clothing. He wore black cargo jeans and black combat boots with a black belt and a white shirt that had his black half of the Yin-Yang symbol, and black fingerless gloves. Alex wore almost the exact same, but instead had a white belt, white fingerless gloves, and a black tank top that had the white half of the Yin-Yang symbol.

"Yep," he said, leaning back in his seat. "This is how we usually fight the big baddies in our world."

"That's...Nice?"

"Not as nice as that," Cap said, pointing out the window. They were coming up on Klarion, who was in the middle of the street terrorizing the citizens. The twins stood up.

"Hey, Miss Martian? Think you could drop us on him?"

"Uh...I don't think that's a good idea. You guys don't really know his powers all that well, and-"

"-We know more than you think," they interrupted, their faces deadpanning. Megan gulped, and shrugged. Her eyes glowed for a moment as two holes appeared directly under the twins, and they fell to the ground. Before she could close them, Cap jumped down after them. Kid Flash whistled.

"Wow, they're just a bunch of maniacs, aren't they?" He said.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Cap caught up to the falling twins and smirked as they dive bombed head first towards Klarion. He held out his arms and each twins grabbed one, gaining more momentum as they turned, and launched Cap at Klarion. He landed directly into him, using his shield to take most of the impact as he safely rolled away while Klarion crumpled to the ground. Unfortunately, it didn't phase him at all. It just made him pissed. But he didn't have time to attack, because Animal and Creature landed on him, before back flipping away near Cap.<p>

"I am getting so tired of seeing your bratty face, Klarion," Animal said, cracking the knuckles of her real hand with her fake. Klarion smiled sickeningly at them, and Teekl meowed.

"Tough talk for someone who was screaming bloody murder just a couple weeks ago," He shot back.

"Oh, we remember that. Good times, good times...But you're a coward, Klarion," Creature said, making his voice boom a little more. A second later the rest of the Team came down.

_"Is everyone linked?" _Aqualad asked through the mental link.

_"Everyone but the twins," _came his reply from Miss martian.

Cap looked around, alert and confused.

_"You're...In my head? That's so creepy."_

_"We rely on this more than technology," _Robin stated, throwing a couple bombs at Klarion, who easily deflected them.

_"I can't get through to the twins. They're blocking me somehow," _Miss Martian said, getting a frustrated look on her face.

"Twins, open your minds, Miss Martian needs to get in," Cap yelled, throwing his shield at Klarion. Klarion deflected it, and it bounced off the wall before going back to patriotic hero.

_"I'm in!" _Megan said successfully.

_"This is only for communications, and communications only," _the twins said. They charged, going on either side of Klarion. Once they were about five feet away, they jumped towards each other over his head, and as they did so, Animal grabbed Teekl by the tale, and Creature grabbed a hold of Klarion by his head. The twins slammed their catch into the ground, causing the cement to crack.

Animal punched the cat in the face, causing Teekl to growl and grow in size, growing bigger than Animal herself. She smirked and punched Teekl in the face. Cap and Superboy rushed over to help.

Meanwhile, Creature was fighting Klarion, taking several magic blasts, but they hardly phased him as he grabbed Klarion by the throat and threw him into Teekl. He was pissed. He was beyond pissed. He was a sleep deprived, hormonal teenager looking boy who had been tortured. He was gonna get Klarion back for that.

_"Wow...Shouldn't that be counted as overkill?" _Kid Flash asked through the link. The others just shrugged. Klarion laughed.

"Oh, so this is what you two are made of. To bad they put those muzzles on you when you were getting cut open! That was my favorite part!" he taunted.

If the twins didn't have fur, you would have been able to see them pale significantly, to the point past Casper, as bad memories threatening to surface.

_"Cut open?" _Robin asked. _"Like, scraped up or-"_

_"Later," _the twins said. _"Maybe."_

"Oh, are you not going to tell them?" Klarion said. He laughed creepily some more. "Well, they were dissected! Oh, it was so much fun to watch! And then I got to have some fun with them," He made a red whip, and lashed it, but Animal stepped in front of Miss Martian, and took it with her real arm, groaning at the familiar pain. She pulled the whip towards her, bringing Klarion along, and punched him in the face. He was laughing as he hit the ground, even when Creature tackled Teekl into the ground next to him.

"It was my second favorite. My first one was watching you try to fight your hallucinations! Oh, it was so much fun hearing you scream! But alas, I have to go now. I'll hopefully have fun with you again soon. Bye now!"

With that,Klarion made a portal and hopped through it, taking the now normal sized Teekl with him before the twins could get to him. They growled.

"Animal, is what he said true?" Aqualad asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him off, and didn't even get to try with Creature as they both ran, jumped, and flew off back towards the Cave.

"It's true."

They all looked at Cap, who was looking down, fists clenched, remembering the night Alex had told him.

"I didn't find out until two nights ago. But they didn't tell me about the hallucinations..."

Cap frowned as he put his shield on his back and walked towards the Bio-Ship, not saying anything else.

The Team, however, had a million going through their minds.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11-Down to Work**

**Third Person:  
><strong>

The Team circled around the twins as they worked next to each other. Ever since the fight with Klarion a few weeks back, they had been acting like nothing was wrong, but they had a feeling the only reason that the machine was nearly done was because they needed a distraction from their own heads. Wally, however, had his thought elsewhere...

"Are those my headphones?" He asked, pointing to the twins. "Both pairs? What? They took the rest of the pizza, too! Ah, come on!"

Artemis slapped him in the back of the head, and Robin laughed. The twins didn't acknowledge their presence as Alex swiveled around, grabbing a flats head screw driver, and turning back around, careful not to take the headphones out of her metal arm.

"I wonder how many songs they have on that thing," Robin muttered.

"Over four hundred," They replied, not looking back at them. Most of the Team smirked, while Wally just stared in utter disbelief, but it was wiped away as Axel pulled on something, and Alex backwards in her chair, clutching her left eye and yanking the earphones out of Axel's ears.

"Ow!" he yelled.

"You asshole! I am so gonna get you back!"

With that, the twins started an all out brawl. It had the whole nine yards. Biting, hair pulling, punching, kicking, clawing, and much more. It was a miracle that the machine didn't break, and even more so that nobody died like they expected them too.

"It's not like you can see out of that eye, anyway!" Axel said, blocking a punch. Alex growled.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!"

"Alex, Axel, that's enough! You two are fighting like Hulk and Thor!"

Alex stopped, mid-punch, clutching a hand full of Axel's hair, and looked at Steve, who had his arms crossed, a frown on his face. She blew the bangs out of her face, and they stayed out this time, revealing an oil-stained eye that was squeezed shut.

"Steve," She whined.

"Don't 'Steve' me. Let him go and go wash your eye out."

"But-"

"-Now."

Alex huffed and stood up, but not before kicking Axel in the face and running off before Steve could scold her. Steve sighed, and rubbed his face.

"Twins," He sighed.

"That's the first time I've actually seen them act like normal brother and sister," Robin stated, looking down the direction Alex ran off to. Steve scoffed.

"Yeah, right. They do it all the time, always at each others throats. But at the same time, they're just playing around. They never got the chance to do that with Ringleader around, so now I think they're trying to make up for that by actually acting normal..."

The Team gave Axel an expectant look, but he didn't notice because he was to busy giving Steve the most confused face that was humanly possible.

"Why the fuck are you thinking about it like that?" He asked. Steve smiled and ruffled Axel's hair.

"I just think a lot..." he said vaguely before he left, leaving everyone confused as hell. Kaldur was the first to get over it as he turned to Axel.

"What did you mean she already unable to see from her eye?"

"Oh," Axel said, waving it off, "She's blind in that eye. Ringleader has this whip, right, so we were fighting her and stuff, and Ringleaer nailed Alex in the face with it. Nothing to bad. Not like her arm..."

"You know, I've always wondered how she lost it," Kid Flash said, eating an energy bar he pulled out of seemingly nowhere. Axel's face turned hard.

"That...That's personal for both of us...Its not easy to talk about. Then again, with us nothing ever really is..." he trailed off. Kaldur nodded, and Axel felt grateful. That was one of the things he liked about Kaldur. He knew when he should and shouldn't push a person.

"Well," Wally said, rolling on the balls of his feet, "It's movie night..."

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?" Tony asked Megan. She smiled. Alex an Axel had fallen asleep, using Wulf as a pillow. Megan was using her telekinesis to lift Alex's hand up so she could put different colors of nail polish on Alex, and she would do the same to Axel if they didn't wake up before she was finished.<p>

"I still don't know how hey can fall asleep so easily watching _horror movies,"_ Clint grumbled. Falcon rolled his eyes. "It's like they are just _so _un-entertained by the film that catches everyone Else's attention, and-"

"-Shut up, Clint. You're gonna wake them up," Tony said, stealing some of his popcorn and going back to making the necklaces for the twins. Clint sighed and sat back, watching as yet another person narrowly escaped death _again."_

"Aaand...Done," Megan said, a proud smile on her face. She lifted A;ex's hand up even further, twisting it so they could see. Stark and Clint couldn't stop laughing. Megan had used the colors of the rainbow to see which color went best with their fur. Alex sneezed, and pulled her hand back, making Megan fly back a little bit. Alex snuffed and rested her hand on her stomach.

Smiling from his spot on the couch, Thor laughed slightly. He knew both Alex and Axel were mostly black-and-white with only a few grays, but painting them the colors of the Rainbow Bridge is new.

"Personally, I think the purple and blue look best on them," Thor said.

Megan laughed, and throughout the rest of the movie she painted Axel's fingers and toes as well. They even had time to dry, and Tony enough time to finish the necklaces. He threw them to Megan, who looked them over. They were the shape of the twins' logos. Using her telekinesis, she managed to get them on without waking them up. The Team gasped when their appearances changed completely, and Tony smiled with pride.

They now had black hair and freckles, with no fur, wings, or tails. Alex looked like she had both her arms. They normal. Stark laughed at the teens' reactions.

"Do is a favor and take them to the mall or something. They are not the shopping type, but that's okay because they go grocery shopping and Christmas shopping with Steve all the time. They're just gonna roll with it. Okay?"

Megan nodded, and stood back as the twins yawned and stretched. They rubbed their eyes and sat up, and Wulf ran over to Superboy to sleep on him.

"Sleep well?" Steve asked. The twins nodded, and stood up. Axel walked over and stole some popcorn from Clint, and Alex headed to the back of the couch to braid Thor's hair. She took off his helmet and put it on Steve. A second later, the bored Artemis started braiding Alex's hair, and Megan started braiding Artemis'. Tony clapped his hands and started braiding Megan's. Axel was to busy looking at his nails, though.

"Why are my nails rainbow?" He asked.

"I decided not to question it," Alex stated, "But I think the blue purple look nice with our fur."

"Ha!" Thor exclaimed. "I have told you so!"

Alex sighed.

"Quit squirming around, Goldilocks, I'm not done. Now hand me some popcorn."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12-A Small Favor**

**Axel:**

I rubbed the tiredness out of my face as I looked for Megan. I knew that she could help me with my problem. Eventually I found her in the garage with Superboy and Wulf. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

"Hey, Megan? Can you help me with something?" I asked. I saw Superboy narrow his eyes slightly, but I didn't really care. Megan nudged him and he sighed.

"Yeah, what do you need?"

"...Better sleep. But I don't want to come to you every time I want to sleep...I was wondering if...If you could get rid of the nightmares..."

I looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed. I felt like a baby, asking her to do this. And with Connor in the room, it only amplified. That is, until I looked back up at them. Megan had an expression of sympathy, and Connor's was kindness, but both of them shared a slightly worried look as well.

"Of course. Do you want me to get Alex, too or just you?"

"If Alex wanted mental help she would have visited Xavier, a telepath from our world, a long time ago. Let her come at her own will."

"Okay. Well, let's go to the room Canary holds the sessions in."

With a quick peck on the cheek to Connor, she flew by my side and led me to Canary's room.

* * *

><p>When we got there, she made me sit in the soft, green chair that I sat in front of last time, while she took Canary's seat. I leaned forward and let my elbows rest on my knees, my head hanging low. I was nervous, and tense, because I was about to let Megan into my mind. I didn't want her to see, but at the same tme I wanted to get better. I felt selfish as she pit her hands to my head. Before she could start, however, I grabbed her wrists. Not to rough, just firmly. She gave me a worried look.<p>

"What's wrong?" She asked. I took a deep sigh.

"You can always back out any time if it's to much. I don't want to give you nightmares either, okay?"

She nodded, and I let her put her hands to my temples, letting out another sigh.

"Just relax, okay?"

I didn't have a chance to nod, because at that moment, I was sucked into my own head.

**Third Person:**

Megan was worried about Axel, but she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she entered his mind.

On the inside, it was dark and murky, and Axel was sitting in a corner, his head in his knees and his hands over his head. But then another Axel appeared behind her. She whirled around, only for him to smile slightly, then frown.

"That's me from before I met the Avengers. Way before I met them. Like, beginning of Ringleader early."

A second later, there was a bright light, making the real Axel and Megan wince, and the memory Axel scream. Megan did her best to ignore it as she looked up at the figure who had opened the door. Beside her, the real Axel tensed up greatly.

There was a woman. She had green skin that was slightly darker, and a lot more wrinkly than Megan's. She had long black hair that went down to middle of her back, and a black mask to match. She also wore black boots, a red tail coat, and basically everything else that resembled a ringmaster of a circus. Hanging on her side was a whip. She scoffed.

"Quit screaming, you baby. Now come. Training starts today."

The memory Axel quickly nodded, and slowly stood up, wincing with every step he took out the door, and covering his ears, not noticing the tears streaming from his fur. Megan glanced at the real Axel, who had a frown. Megan couldn't believe the differences between the two.

Yes, it was obvious they were both Axel, but the memory Axel was small, lanky, and seemed weak. He was just doing what he was told. But the Axel she knew was tall, well built, and always put on a strong face.

"This was my first time in the Box. That's a special room Ringleader had. It deprived us of all of our senses. Getting them back all at once...Well...It wasn't fun. Now come on...We should go..."

Megan nodded, noticing how he seemed uncomfortable at this memory, and followed him out the door and into a room he was hanging on the wall, several tubes sticking out of his head, as well as Alex's, who was right up there with him.

"This is the first day we met Ringleader. We woke up like that."

"What are those tubes for?"

Before he could answer her question, the twins simultaneously started screaming in agony. The real Axel grabbed his head in pain. He groaned.

"Those tubes are what she used to put most of the world's knowledge in us so we wouldn't have to go through the trouble of homeschooling. When we say we know a lot...It's an understatement."

"How long were you like that?" She asked.

"Too long. Now come on. Let's go to a different one."

Once Axel opened the door, he stopped dead in his tracks, his face turning ashen. Megan shook him, but it didn't register. Megan got a worried expression, and flew to eye level with Axel. But being able to see what he saw was no fun.

In this memory, Alex and Axel were pinned against the wall with special, yellow cuffs. They were watching Ringleader cut open, electrocute, and just full on torture six other kids.

One had scales, and gills, and was bleeding all over the floor, while a small boy with bunny ears and legs was crying over a girl with feathers, who was already dead on the floor, as well as the ones spliced with dog, alligator, and bear.

"Stop it!"

Megan whipped her head around to the memory twins. They were pulling against their restraints, trying to get free. It was Axel who had spoke..

"You're killing them!" Memory Alex yelled. They were both sobbing, unable to control it. Megan looked sadly at the real Axel next to her as Ringleader spoke.

"It was a test. I wanted to see if you could teach these worthless experiments like I taught you. You were made to lead an army. You passed and failed. Now quit crying!"

As the bunny spliced boy screamed, his throat being slit by Ringleader, Axel slammed the door closed. His face was wide with terror as he sunk against the wall.

"Those were our students..."

Megan knelt down and hugged Axel's trembling form, wondering just how he and Alex survived.

* * *

><p>"Alex?"<p>

Kaldur grew worried. He had just been having a nice conversation about their different Atlantis's, and she had just frozen, mid sentence. Her coffee mug had dropped out of her hand, and her face had turned ashen, as if remembering something awful. He waved his hand in front of her face, but it was as if she was trapped in her own head. Her whole body had completely frozen. It made no sense. She had been smiling just a second ago. What could have happened?

Kaldur wasted no time running to her friends.

* * *

><p>"Are you okay now?" Megan asked Axel. He took a shaky breath and nodded before standing up.<p>

"Yeah. That's not even the worst of it, actually."

Megan gulped. Just how many bad memories did he have? And how could it get worse? But she put on a brave face and nodded, flying up to Axel's height once again.

"Which door next?" She asked.

"That one," Axel said, pointing down the hall. He scratched his head. "To be honest, I don't know which door holds which memory, and I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I'm sorry you had to live it. Now come on, let's try the one with the chains on it."

Axel gave her a confused look.

"Chains? I don't remember that..."

"It's a locked memory. Someone must have blocked your mind from it. We just need something to break it..."

A second later, a hammer that looked exactly like Thor's. Axel picked it up.

"Huh," he said.

"What? Isn't that Thor's hammer?"

"Well...I don't know. Yes and no? When you said we needed something to break it I thought of how Thor's hammer was able to break just about anything...I wonder..."

Axel leaned down, picked it up, and smiled.

"The only place I can pick the damned thing up."

"What are you gonna do with it?"

"Eh. I thought I'd try a little target practice."

With that, he chucked the hammer at the lock, and it cracked, but didn't break fully. Axel summoned the hammer to him, and tried again. This time, is shattered, and they were literally sucked into the memory.

"Well...Okay then..." Axel said, scratching his head and looking around. "Where...?"

He didn't have time to finish his question, because a blonde haired woman with green eyes like the twins' walked out onto the porch.

"Come on, David!" She called to the inside of the house. Axel stepped forward, cautious but curious. Why did she familiar?

A second later, a man who had black hair and green eyes stumbled out. Two kids were treating him like a play ground as they climbed all over him. There was one girl and one boy, both with dirty blonde hair like their mother, and green eyes. They looked to be about five or six.

"Charlotte, Ed, come on," the woman urged, "We don't want to be late for the zoo."

The twins quickly climbed off of the man and rushed to the woman's side. Before they could make it to the car at the end of the drive way, a dark, cloaked figure came around. She pointed an alien looking gun at the parents, and shot them. The kids were freaking out as they tried to run away, but the cloaked figure grabbed a hold of them, and ran off.

Axel stared in horror as he looked down at the parents, realization dawning on him.

"I...I had parents..."

* * *

><p>"Alex?!" Steve said. He tried shaking her yet again, and again, she didn't seem to respond. It was like she was in a trance that was never gonna end. He was freaking out. She never did this. Over the past two hours he tried everything, but still couldn't get through to her.<p>

If it was CADMUS' doing, they were gonna pay.

* * *

><p>"I had parents...Finally, the biggest mystery of my life has been solved!" Axel grinned. "Ringleader isn't my parent! Not like I really considered her to be anyway, but this is so exciting!" He grabbed Megan by the shoulders and twirled her around out of happiness. Megan looked at him confused.<p>

"But...They were killed. We saw them get shot..."

"I saw them breathing, which meant they might have a chance of being alive. Now come on, let's see if we can find another one that has them."

He pulled on Megan's wrist, leading her to another door. He opened it wide, and instantly regretted it.

Megan watched in horror as she saw the current, weaker, starved memory Axel get cut open. What made it worse was the fact that they were only a few feet away. Megan, as much as she wanted to, couldn't turn away as Axel's screams were by the muzzle they had found him in.

Axel starred in horror, squeezing his eyes shut and gripping his chest, taking deep breaths and trying to slow his beating heartbeat. Then he remembered that Megan was here with him. His eyes snapped open and he grabbed Megan and pushed her out, but the memory sucked him back in, and he and Megan were separated.

Axel was hyperventilating now. He didn't want this. He already lived through it, he didn't need to watch it happen.

Megan banged her fists against the door as hard as she could. She didn't want to risk opening it with her mental skills.

"No! Open up!" She yelled. Her hands were starting to hurt, but she didn't care. Axel was in there all alone, and the only reason he was in there and not her was because he had pulled her out.

"Megan, move."

Megan whirled around to see Alex running at her at such an incredible speed on all fours. She looked pissed, and she growled as Megan ducked and the door was kicked down by Alex.

"Axel..."

Alex ran to Axel, trying not to acknowledge the memory as she punched Axel in the face, bringing him back to reality. Axel snapped his eyes towards Alex, and she grabbed him by the shirt collar and threw him out. Then she replaced the door and turned to Megan.

"How much did you see?" She asked. She sounded ticked, but her entire face showed worry.

"I saw memories with the Ringleader, and Axel broke the chains on one memory, and just a small part of that one."

Alex sighed, not in relief, but just out of tiredness as she turned to Axel, who was giving her a confused look.

"How are you-"

"-We have a mental connection, dip shit. I got pulled in with you. Now Megan, do me a favor and stop? I think the others are freaking out."

"What? Why?"

"Because my body froze, I know that much. I was in the middle of talking to Kaldur when you two decided to do this."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know that. Yeah, I will. let me see both of your heads."

The twins gladly obliged, and Megan's eyes glowed red with power, and the twins fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Megan opened her eyes and sighed with relief. They were out of Axel's head and back in the therapy room, tiny waterfall in the corner and all. Axel was passed out on the chair, head tilted back, his rainbow nails scratching his chest slightly. Megan smiled and got a blanket from the closet. After she had put it on him, she left to go find Alex, which wasn't very difficult considering there was a crowd around her.<p>

"What happened? Why did she just fall?" Wally asked, on the verge of hysteria. Megan gulped.

"Uh...I might be able to explain that actually..." She said nervously. Steve, Tony, Thor, Robin, and Wally all turned to look at her.

"So..It all sort of started with Axel asking me for a small favor..."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13-Fun Day**

**Third Person:**

Alex woke up with a headache so bad she thought her head was gonna split open, which was really ironic considering that was the best sleep she had ever had. She groaned when she sat up.

"Well...That was interesting..."

"Not as interesting as your day is gonna be!"

Alex jumped slightly as Stark burst into the room. She growled and stood up.

"Well, you gave us quite a scare yesterday," He said, taking out his phone and showing her a picture of her in her frozen state, and then her where she had fallen face fat on the ground in sleep, "So to make up for it, you're gonna go shopping with Megan and Artemis."

"No. What I'm gonna do is finish the machine."

"I've got it covered. Now, I refuse to let you leave this world without having some fun first, so get your but out there and have a good time."

"No."

"Well, it's either that or you can be my taste tester."

"What time do they leave?"

Stark smirked and glanced at his non existent watch.

"Now, probably."

Before Alex could reply, she was lifted into the air by Megan's telekinesis.

"Woah. Okay, you can put me down now," Alex said as she was forced out the door.

"Not in your life," Artemis smirked.

"No, guys, I mean really put me down, there's a-"

Alex's sentence was cut off by the top of the doorway hitting her forehead extremely hard. She groaned and rubbed her head, and Megan quickly apologized. As they went through the living room, Alex pleaded for help from Thor, Hulk, and Cap, but they all pretended not to hear her as she was dragged out by an overly excited Megan.

* * *

><p>As Axel headed to the room that held the machine, he was tackled by Wulf. He grunted as he hit the ground, trying to keep Wulf from biting his throat out. As he was doing that, Connor, Robin, and Wally had taken the liberty of tying his ankles and wings together. Then he was blindfolded and gagged. Wulf hopped on, and Robin quickly tied Axel's wrists behind his back, and let Superboy pick him up, cackling almost the entire time.<p>

Axel struggled to get away from the three boys. What were they up to? An all time prank? Were they being brainwashed? If so, why just go after him? A million scenarios played through his mind as he was finally put down a few minutes later. It was Wally who took the blind fold off.

Axel looked around. He was sitting in a dark room that had a table with a lamp on it. He sighed and gave them his best poker face. He would ask if it was necessary, but he still had the gag on.

_I'm gonna pee on all the things they eat, _he thought angrily. Kaldur untied the gag.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Today is a fun day!" Robin said excitedly. Axel sighed.

"I'm the more cooperative twin. You should know that by now. Now untie me!"

Robin and Superboy obliged, and Wally whined slightly. Once he was untied, he stood to his full height, which was kinda tall. He was 6'4", with a wing span of twenty four feet, and the ominous light made him look scarier than normal. At least to Wally, anyway. Kaldur flipped on the lights.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Alex huffed as she walked through the mall with Artemis and Megan. She and Megan were in their human forms, while Artemis was in her civvies. It wasn't that she was not having a good time, she just didn't like shopping. Stark usually bought all of her clothes, so there was really no need to go herself, unless it was to get some supplies for a project or get some new CDs or something of the like. But if she went back, Steve would tell her to go back to the mall, or Stark would make her the official taste tester for his cooking. Last time she ate his cooking she got food poisoning and was to sick to do anything for two days.<p>

Unlike most girls at the mall, she didn't walk side-by-side with her friends. Instead she walked behind them. It wasn't that she didn't like them, she just wanted personal space and she wanted to find any good stores, like the music one they were just passing. Alex glanced at Artemis and Megan before her feet subconsciously moved into the store. The only noise being made by her was the little tinkle of the bell when she opened the door, and her heavy, muffled footsteps on the gray carpet. The cashier waved to her, and she nodded her hello to him before immediately heading to the bavk of the store where the guitars were lined on shelves and on the wall. She smirked and picked up one that was completely black, plugged it in, ad sat down.

Alex had many songs running through her head, all of them with significant meanings to her. So she just played a simple one.

_Do you have the time_  
><em> To listen to me whine<em>  
><em> About nothing and everything<em>  
><em> All at once<em>  
><em> I am one of those<em>  
><em> Melodramatic fools<em>  
><em> Neurotic to the bone<em>  
><em> No doubt about it<em>

_ Sometimes I give myself the creeps_  
><em> Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me<em>  
><em> It all keeps adding up<em>  
><em> I think I'm cracking up<em>  
><em> Am I just paranoid?<em>  
><em> Am I just stoned?<em>

_ I went to a shrink_  
><em> To analyze my dreams<em>  
><em> She says it's lack of sex<em>  
><em> That's bringing me down<em>  
><em> I went to a whore<em>  
><em> He said my life's a bore<em>  
><em> So quit my whining cause<em>  
><em> It's bringing her down<em>

_ Sometimes I give myself the creeps_  
><em> Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me<em>  
><em> It all keeps adding up<em>  
><em> I think I'm cracking up<em>  
><em> Am I just paranoid?<em>  
><em> Uh, yuh, yuh, ya<em>

_ Grasping to control_  
><em> So I better hold on<em>

_ Sometimes I give myself the creeps_  
><em> Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me<em>  
><em> It all keeps adding up<em>  
><em> I think I'm cracking up<em>  
><em> Am I just paranoid?<em>  
><em> Am I just stoned?<em>

By this time she had gained a small crowd, but she didn't really notice let alone care. She just continued her monotone emotion as she began to play another song.

* * *

><p>Axel jerked the controller to the side as his avatar was hit brutally. When he did that he almost hit Wally.<p>

They were having a video game tournament. So far Superboy, Wally, and Kaldur had all lost. Now it was between Robin and Axel, and things were getting heared. Eventually their mentors/parents came in, and they started making bets. Nearly all of the Avengers had their money on Axel while Batman, Canary, and Red Tornado were cheering Robin on.

Now it all came down to who had the bigger wallet: Batman or Iron Man.

"Well," Axel said, not taking his eyes off the screen, "How much do you have, Guano?"

"6,800,000,000 dollars," he answered, being completely unphased by the nickname. Tony pointed and laughed.

"Ha! I have 1.3 billion dollars more than you," he taunted.

"And I don't have a heart problem."

"That was a cheap shot, Guano."

Batman glared at Tony, who had a smirk on his face.

"Would you quit measuring dicks and get along already?" Alex said with an exasperated tone and he kicked Wally's avatar. Superboy nodded in agreement.

"Ha! Yes! Take that you overgrown monkey!" Wally cried as he shot up triumphantly. Tony growled and handed a large amount of money to Batman. Meenwhile, Steve sneezed.

"God bless America," Axel and Tony said in unison. Cap sighed and glared whilr the others started laughing. Tony and Axel gave Steve a pair of cheesy grins, and Cap rolled his eyes.

"Hardy har har," he said. Axel gave a low chuckle.

"You know, you find out a lot about Steve when you live with him," Tony said, using Axel's shoulder as an arm rest (Axel was sitting down so now Tony could actually do that). Steve started to blush madly.

"Yeah. He likes his french fries lined up," Tony said.

"He's an amazing barber," Axel continued.

"A good dad."

"An old man."

"His favorite movie is Old Yeller."

"His favorite genra is horror and mystery."

"And every time we play Cards Against Humanity he wins. That man has the most fucked up sense of humor out of all of us."

"You can stop now," Cap said.

"What's Cards Against Humanity?" Connor asked. Tony and Axel pursed their lips.

"If you ever end up in our world then you'll find out. It's kind of difficult to explain."

* * *

><p>"Honey, we're home!" Alex called as they walked into the Cave. She seemed completely unphased when she saw Thor fly across the room. In fact, she walked straight through the fight that was going on between him and Hulk.<p>

"So, Hulk, how was your day?" Alex asked casually. He shrugged and lunged for Thor, who had stopped to fix his helmet. Alex nodded and went to the living room, where she found all of them watching horror movies in mountains of junk food, mostly centered around Axel and Wally. She yawned as a girl on the screen got decapitated.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Where'd the guitar come from?" Tony asked. Alex took the case off of her back and leaned it against the couch.

"I got it for free from the mall. Apparently if you play well enough for them they give you one guitar of your choice."

"That would explain the Green Day stuck in my head," Axel muttered. Alex chuckled and hopped over the back of the couch, sqeezing herself in between Axel and Steve.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Batman walked in to find something that he wasn't sure whether it was adorable or sad.<p>

Both the team and Avengers were sprawled out across the couches and floor. The twins, Cap, Kaldur, and Connor were passed out on the couch, all leaning on each other in some weird way. Wally was laying in their laps. On the floor was Hulk, limbs spread wide, and he was laying on his stomach. Thor was on his back, curled up in his cape with his hammer. Megan, Artemis, Tony, and Robin were all laying against the side of Hulk. He shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his face. He snapped a picture and left.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 14-On the Other End**

**Third Person:**

Fury sighed as he looked out the window of the Helicarrier. It had been two months since the Avengers suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Needless to say, he knd of missed them.

He always enjoyed having to get onto them. It was what he did. It was just his nature. It made him feel like he had at least some purpose to his job, keeping the supers in line. It always gave him a piece of mind.

But now, he didn't even know anymore.

They had saved the world on more than one occasion, and he felt like he owed them more than he could give them.

Now, since they went missing, villaims are coming out of nowhere. There's nornal thugs, Skull, HYDRA, AIM, Draken, Ringleader, Ringmaster, and everyone in between. He had been keeping a loose lid on the situation, but it was bound to overflow soon. He just hoped they got back home soon. He was worried.

* * *

><p>"Looks like we're finally done," Tony said, setting down his blow torch. The twins high fived, and Thor cheered.<p>

"Joyous! It is high time I get home to Asgard," he said.

"But this also means mushy goodbyes," Clint stated.

"Yeah, can't you drop Thor off in Asgard and then go to your own world?" Megan asked.

"Sorry," the twins said in unison, "The thing only has enough juice for one trip. If we get to Asgard, Heimdall can always send us back to our home."

"Well, come back any time you need to," Robin said. The Avengers and team looked at each other, content smiles on theor faces despite the fact that all of them knew it was to dangerous to do that. But nonetheless, they pretended like it was a possibility.

"Yeah, maybe. Now is everyone tied up?" Cap asked. So there wasn't a repeat, the all grabbed some rope and tired their wastes together so they wouldn't get separated. Everyone nodded, and Alex flipped on the machine.

Just as they disappeared, the twins gave their two-fingered salute.

* * *

><p>When the Avengers woke up, they almost didn't recognize Asgard.<p>

It was covered in flames, and there were fallen Asgardians and Frost Giants everywhere you looked. And at the top of the royal palace was Loki himself.

"Well, hell," Iron Man said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Well, you know what we say," the twins said in unison. Thor nodded in agreement and gripped his hammer a little tighter.

"Aye," he said, "Avengers, Assemble!"

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <strong>BEFORE YOU KILL ME, I have planned for a sequel, so no worries. I'll post it all up when I do finish it (Only the epilogue which is probably gonna be kinda short, and the rest of the chapter before that, so it shouldn't be very long). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!

**~SoN~**


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